Murder on Charity Lane

Title: Murder on Charity Lane
Author: Jo Nichols
Published: August 18, 2026 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Marigold Cottages Murders #2

Blurb: After the recent 'hubbub'—as Mrs. B describes the murders on the property—quiet descends upon the Marigold Cottages. Sophie is moving in with Nicholas, Anthony is smitten with Lily-Ann, and life is returning to normal.

But Mrs. B misses the hubbub.

That's why she invites her friend Elsa Moore to move into Sophie's now-vacant cottage: Elsa is a suspect in the death of her employer, who tumbled down the stairs of his mansion during a dinner party. His much-younger window claims she saw Elsa push Frank, but Mrs. B knows she's innocent.

Mrs. B rallies the residents to investigate the party-goers: an eccentric couple who owe Frank, a fundraiser who depends on his largesse, and an old friend obsessed with life-extension. But the tenants all come to the same conclusion: Elsa is guilty.

And as they investigate, someone is snooping around the Cottages, leaving windows unlocked and papers misplaced. Then there’s a second murder, and they discover that Mrs. B risked the Marigold Court for Elsa. With their tight-knit community on the line, they must prove her innocence.

My Opinion: Some series hook you with the mystery; this one hooks you with the people. ‘Murder on Charity Lane’ is another reminder that the Marigold Cottages aren’t just a setting; they’re a whole ecosystem of odd little ducks, all lovingly shepherded by the hysterically funny, fiercely caring Mrs. B. Honestly, the murder is almost background noise compared to the enjoyment of spending time with this ragtag found family.

This book leans hard into friendship, acceptance, and the kind of loyalty that makes you smile because… well, these folks are willing to do *whatever* is needed. And I do mean whatever. They don’t go looking for trouble (okay, maybe in book one they sort of did, but he deserved it), yet trouble keeps showing up on their doorstep like it knows that they can handle it.

The charm isn’t just in their antics; it’s in the chat messages. Those little exchanges are the heartbeat of the series. They’re where the humor sharpens, where the affection shows, where the group’s personality really pops.

Now, would I personally live in a cluster of tightly packed cottages in Santa Barbara? Probably not. I like my space. But the idea of having a ready‑made circle of oddballs who show up for you without hesitation? That’s the kind of fantasy we all indulge in from time to time. The Marigold crew may be unconventional, but they’re exactly the kind of people you’d want in your corner.

As for continuity, you really do need to start with ‘The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective’ to understand who’s who and why this group works the way it does. But once you’ve read book one, sliding into book two feels easy, like returning to a familiar chair.

Eat, Drink, and Get Buried

Title: Eat, Drink, and Get Buried
Author: Cleo Coyle
Published: September 22, 2026 by Berkley
Format: Kindle, 400 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Coffeehouse Mystery #22

Blurb: Years ago, when master roaster Clare Cosi was a newly divorced mom raising her daughter, Joy, Ava Welsh became Joy's best friend. Now the painfully shy girl next door has grown into a successful New York businesswoman, and Clare is delighted to be catering Ava's coffee-themed party, especially when her boyfriend, Ryan, confides his plan to propose that very night.

Then a scream shatters the celebration. A woman is thrown off the balcony to her death, and Ryan—who abruptly flees the party—is accused of murder. Clare vows to help Ava clear his name.

Her digging uncovers suspicious connections to a deadly event from which a teenaged Joy and Ava barely escaped with their lives. The stakes rise ever higher as a ruthless killer attempts to keep the ugly truth buried—even if it means sending Clare and her caffeinated crew six feet under.

My Opinion: Twenty-two books in, and I’m committed to seeing this series through, since at this point it’s less a reading habit and more a relationship. But even in a relationship, you can feel when the spark dims a little, and Eat, Drink, and Get Buried lands in that “we’re still together, but… hmm” category.

This installment moves slowly, padded with filler, repetition, and bits of history that took me out of the story. And the miscommunication trope? It’s everywhere. By the halfway mark, I started mentally ticking off which cozy mystery tropes Cleo Coyle might reach for next, only to realize the answer was: apparently all of them.

Normally, this series sends me straight to the coffee bar. I’ll be halfway through a chapter and suddenly craving a latte like my life depends on it. But this time? Nothing. Not even a whisper of “go make a cup.” That alone tells you something was missing.

The familiar cast felt oddly passive; they were all standing around waiting for someone else to tell them what to do to move the plot forward. By the end, I realized I’d lost interest, not dramatically, just quietly, the way you set a book down and forget where you left it. There was no spark, no pull, no caffeinated buzz. I’ll probably forget the plot by next month, and that’s saying something for a series I’ve stuck with this long.

And then there’s the ending, like this add-on, for instance. Instead of wrapping things up, the reader is given an epilogue, then the authors tack on a multiple-page cookbook. I’m not sure if it was meant for a select few or to inflate the page count, but goodness, that was a lot of pages most readers will flip past with a polite “no, thank you.”

Not a terrible entry, just a middling one, that was familiar enough to finish, but not enough to savor.

Gear, Grills, & Guns

Title: Gear, Grills, & Guns
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: October 22, 2020 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Audio, Kindle 202 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #13

Blurb: Mae West is bound to prove she deserves the seat she was appointed to on the National Park Committee when she brings a big car show to Normal during the slower fall month. But, when Wendell Holliday's body is found dead in one of Happy Trails Campground bungalows and one of the rentable campers is burning to the ground, Mae along with the help of the Laundry Club Ladies once again put on their sleuthing caps to figure out who is trying to sabotage Mae and her new position on the committee.

My Opinion: This installment has an energy that the previous book in the series, ‘Kickbacks, Kayaks, and Kidnapping’, was missing. Here, the characters seemed less muted and more themselves.

The slightly longer length worked in its favor. It gave the story room to grow, let the characters engage, and build those little moments that linger with the reader. I listened while driving, which is always a gamble when it comes to moments the author hopes you will keep in your back pocket, so I half expected to miss something crucial. But even with a few “Wait, did they just say, oh well, too late” moments, I didn’t guess the culprit until much later than usual. Once the reveal landed, I had that familiar “Ahhh, okay, I should’ve seen that” feeling. The clues were there, but Tonya Kappes layered them in with enough distraction that the escapades stayed fun.

And speaking of rides, this series has been floating around TV‑adaptation rumors for ages. With everything going on in the world, a little cozy escapism feels like something we could all use more of. Honestly, I’d love to see Hallmark Media take on the small‑town quirks, southern humor, and the comforting rhythm of the mysteries.

Dreamland

Title: Dreamland
Author: Olivie Blake
Published: August 13, 2026 by Tor
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
Genre: Gothic / Occult

Blurb: As summer heat lingers in Los Angeles, girls are found murdered, the winds are blowing a strange energy into the city and wildfire warnings are everywhere. Yet Anya Morris has other things on her mind. A TV pilot should have been her big Hollywood break. But she lost out and now she’s willing to risk it all.

Enter William de Witt, an aging movie star who offers an unusual opportunity. His son Jude’s rare heath condition forces him to live as a recluse - and in exchange for spending time with him, William will grant her access to Hollywood’s most powerful circles. Wealth, influence and access are all on offer within the de Witt family mansion. However, behind the gilded veneer lie decades of bloodstained secrets. As her duties draw her deeper into their world, she wonders if the villa is cursed or if Jude himself is touched by the occult? Yet there’s a dark magnetism to him that Anya can’t resist, despite all the warning signs. As the city’s body count continues to rise, something has to give. There’s smoke in the air, but who will strike that final, fatal match?

My Opinion: I expect Olivie Blake’s books to have a spark, mixing the cleverness of Gifted & Talented with the surprise of Girl Dinner. But reading Dreamland felt like watching a favorite writer take a big swing and miss.

The book is full of atmosphere, but after a while, it feels like that’s all it has. Blake tries to mix Hollywood gothic, big ambitions, family decay, and psychological drama all at once. You can tell what she was aiming for, which makes it even more frustrating than if the book had just been bad.

Characters blur, motivations wander, and the narrative keeps gesturing toward something that kept losing me. I kept waiting for the book to settle, to sharpen, to commit. It never did. It just went on and on about a wannabe actress, caught up in a moldering old Hollywood home filled with people who sold their souls to the devil, all the while she developed a passionate and quite graphic relationship with an epileptic meat sack housing a devil; the author’s description, not mine.

And that’s the disappointment: Blake is capable of so much more. Here, she reaches so far, the core slips away. The novel wants to draw you in, but you can see the effort behind the illusion, and once you see the effort, the magic evaporates.

In the end, Dreamland isn’t a failure so much as a book that is trying too hard. A book that wanted to be a story about bad choices, with horror and murder, but ended up feeling hollow. I closed it wishing Blake had trusted her strengths instead of chasing a grander, murkier vision that never quite came together.